3 ms·

I understand your sentiment to some degree, but I also see the benefits of modern development: > [food] Even when we live in rather harsh conditions we can ha

by jlg23 6y ago

I understand your sentiment to some degree, but I also see the benefits of modern development: > [food] Even when we live in rather harsh conditions we can have a balanced diet (where I live, without modern means of transportation, my diet would be exclusively Barbary figs, fish and mussels. If I wanted meat, someone would have to tend goats and sheep full time and that person would have to roam a huge area to find enough food for them). > [medicine] I am not dying of an infection, I take antibiotics. > [raising kids] Kids can now easily try out things their parents never did, understood or appreciated. The cost for the parents is negligible while the benefit for the kids can be tremendous. (That's why know how to play the flute, how I got into software development and into theatre). > [education] I have at least a basic understand of the problem domain when writing software for chemists or biologists; I understand political processes and have a broad cultural knowledge. Even when I don't know, I know that I don't know. > [travel] I really understand that there are different cultures, way beyond hearsay. That allows me (to some degree) to critically reflect on my own culture, to understand what shaped it.

randomdata 6y ago
> I have at least a basic understand of the problem domain when writing software for chemists or biologists While that may be efficient in certain scenarios, what are the odds of winning that lottery? As market efficiency shows up in income, and incomes have held stagnant even as the population gains more and more education, we know that most people aren't winning. They are only losing.
sillysaurusx 6y ago
Re: antibiotics, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xZbcwi7SfZE https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xZbcwi7SfZE argues that we’ve lost respect for the effectiveness of antibiotics. That ties in with the original argument that we’ve become less efficient, or at least effective, if it’s true.
acituan 6y ago
I want to play the devil's advocate so forgive the extra cynicism; > Even when we live in rather harsh conditions we can have a balanced diet We can have a balanced diet, but it is not the cheapest or most convenient; 40% of Americans are obese, and there is so much we can fault willpower for it. Heart disease, diabetes etc. being top killers, we are still actually dying and suffering from mal-nutrition. The system that fills 90% of our supermarkets with crap food is very efficient for itself, but that efficiency is not shared with the entirety of population. > I am not dying of an infection, I take antibiotics. Yet we stumbled so hard supplying basics like masks in a rather middling pandemic. High efficiency supply chains came at the cost of high fragility, again a cost paid by the entirety of population. Besides, death is not the worst of all fates. E.g. 1/8 of Americans are on antidepressants, and this rate is increasing sharply. 10 percent of kids are diagnosed ADHD, 60% of which are pushed amphetamines, again at increasing rates. Is this an increase in efficiency? For whom? > Kids can now easily try out things their parents never did, understood or appreciated. Novelty at all costs is the core mission of AI recommended content pushed to kids. Do you think a nation that can't fight with high obesity rate is really doing well with limiting screen time? Do we know the long term effects of this 'stimulation obesity'? Again, this is efficiency for the company that profits from the engagement, and we're just gonna roll with the experiment and see where the costs will show up. > I understand political processes and have a broad cultural knowledge Look at the quality of political discourse dominating the US. Does it sound educated, able to reflect critically, able to allow ideas fight instead of people? Many attended to college, paid high tuition sure, but what was gained in the end? The system they attended, the admin class grew and made money very efficiently indeed. Did it reflect to the quality of education? > I really understand that there are different cultures, way beyond hearsay Almost the entire rest of the world already understands this because certain dominating "cultures" long been in their land, whether by force or through TV, internet, merchandise, food etc. Kids in far far away places grew up with Batman, McDonalds, Coca Cola, they watched MTV when TV was a thing, now we're letting YouTube decide what they should find relevant etc. The fact that an American is required to travel to understand there are different cultures is an exception and a privilege.

by jlg23 6y ago

randomdata 6y ago

> I have at least a basic understand of the problem domain when writing software for chemists or biologists While that may be efficient in certain scenarios, what are the odds of winning that lottery? As market efficiency shows up in income, and incomes have held stagnant even as the population gains more and more education, we know that most people aren't winning. They are only losing.

sillysaurusx 6y ago

Re: antibiotics, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xZbcwi7SfZE https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xZbcwi7SfZE argues that we’ve lost respect for the effectiveness of antibiotics. That ties in with the original argument that we’ve become less efficient, or at least effective, if it’s true.

acituan 6y ago

I want to play the devil's advocate so forgive the extra cynicism; > Even when we live in rather harsh conditions we can have a balanced diet We can have a balanced diet, but it is not the cheapest or most convenient; 40% of Americans are obese, and there is so much we can fault willpower for it. Heart disease, diabetes etc. being top killers, we are still actually dying and suffering from mal-nutrition. The system that fills 90% of our supermarkets with crap food is very efficient for itself, but that efficiency is not shared with the entirety of population. > I am not dying of an infection, I take antibiotics. Yet we stumbled so hard supplying basics like masks in a rather middling pandemic. High efficiency supply chains came at the cost of high fragility, again a cost paid by the entirety of population. Besides, death is not the worst of all fates. E.g. 1/8 of Americans are on antidepressants, and this rate is increasing sharply. 10 percent of kids are diagnosed ADHD, 60% of which are pushed amphetamines, again at increasing rates. Is this an increase in efficiency? For whom? > Kids can now easily try out things their parents never did, understood or appreciated. Novelty at all costs is the core mission of AI recommended content pushed to kids. Do you think a nation that can't fight with high obesity rate is really doing well with limiting screen time? Do we know the long term effects of this 'stimulation obesity'? Again, this is efficiency for the company that profits from the engagement, and we're just gonna roll with the experiment and see where the costs will show up. > I understand political processes and have a broad cultural knowledge Look at the quality of political discourse dominating the US. Does it sound educated, able to reflect critically, able to allow ideas fight instead of people? Many attended to college, paid high tuition sure, but what was gained in the end? The system they attended, the admin class grew and made money very efficiently indeed. Did it reflect to the quality of education? > I really understand that there are different cultures, way beyond hearsay Almost the entire rest of the world already understands this because certain dominating "cultures" long been in their land, whether by force or through TV, internet, merchandise, food etc. Kids in far far away places grew up with Batman, McDonalds, Coca Cola, they watched MTV when TV was a thing, now we're letting YouTube decide what they should find relevant etc. The fact that an American is required to travel to understand there are different cultures is an exception and a privilege.